Cuban Missile Crisis – Becoming EXCOMM
Background Information
Following the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, Fidel Castro, the communist leader of Cuba, became
convinced that at some point the United States would attempt to remove him from power. As a result,
he grew increasingly defiant of American policymakers and courted the leaders of the Soviet Union to
bolster the strength of his small island country. In 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev offered to
place Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba just 145 kilometers (90 miles) off the coast of Florida. Castro
eagerly accepted Khrushchev’s offer, believing nuclear missiles in Cuba would deter American
aggression and secure Cuba’s safety.
An American spy plane eventually discovered the existence of missile sites off the coast of Cuba,
sparking what would come to be known as the Cuban Missile Crisis which lasted for 13 days.
Roles: You will be acting as Kennedy’s national security advisors, a group called EXCOMM, during
this 13 day period. You will be researching and analyzing the documents that Kennedy’s real advisors
had available to them, and then present your findings to me [President Kennedy] in class tomorrow.
Each of your groups will be assigned 1 policy that you are responsible for:
1) Create an extensive list of Pros and Cons for the policy choice [T-chart]
2) Present your policy arguments - need to support your statements with evidence taken from the
Confidential Files
Group Work: WORK TOGETHER TO COMPLETE YOUR CHART – EACH PERSON SHOULD
HAVE A DOCUMENT
Mini Roles (within group)
Typer Open up T-Chart from my website (US HISTORY 4 ASSIGNMENTS) and fill it in as your
group members uncover the pros and cons of it. YOU WILL SAVE IT IN THE COLLABORATIVE
STORAGE FOR YOUR CLASS – SHARED FILE
2 Presenters  You will present your policy to me, the President, tomorrow in class
EVERYONE  IS ASSIGNED AN ARTICLE AND CONTRIBUTES (Points)
Confidential FILES
FOR EXCOMM MEMBERS ONLY
EXCOMM MEMBERS
JFK (John F. Kennedy) – President of the United States
Robert McNamara - Secretary of Defense
ALSO:
 George Ball - Under Secretary of State
McGeorge Bundy - National Security Advisor
 C. Douglas Dillon - Secretary of the Treasury
 Roswell Gilpatric - Deputy Secretary of
Defense
 U. Alexis Johnson - Deputy Undersecretary of
State
Theodore Sorensen - Special Council (Chief speechwriter
and close confident to President)
 Lyndon Johnson - Vice President
 Edwin “Ed” Martin - Assistant Secretary of
State
 John McCone - CIA Director
 Paul Nitze - Assistant Secretary of Defense
 Walt Rostow - State policy planner
 General Maxwell Taylor - Chairman of the
Dean Rusk – Secretary of State
Joint Chiefs of Staff
 General Walter Sweeney - Tactical Air
Command
Other names you will come across:
Robert Kennedy – Attorney General
Nikita Khrushchev – First Secretary of the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union (leader) from 1953-1964
Anatoly Dobrynin - Soviet Ambassador to the United States during the
Missile Crisis
Anastas Mikoyan - First Deputy Premier under Khrushchev (second
most powerful figure in the Soviet Union at the time)
Fidel Castro – Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976
Raul Castro – brother of Fidel Castro; top-ranking military officer and
advisor
Manuel Urrutia Lleó – President of Cuba for 6 months after Revolution (had
disputes with Fidel)